Drain shield for gutters



Filed Nov. 6, 1958 l l D 3,053,393 DRAIN SHIELD FOR GUTTERS Louis A.McLean, 174 Woodland, Winnetka, lll. Filed Nov. 6, 1958, Ser. No.772,350 Claims. (Cl. 210-474) This invention is concerned with a drainshield for rain gutters or eaves troughs such as is commonly employedfor excluding leaves or other debris from the gutter while permittingrain water to freely enter the gutter and, more particularly, isconcerned with providing a drain shield of novel, one-piece constructionthat is adaptable for mounting on a variety of gutters of differentshapes and constructions.

The principal object of this invention, therefore, is to provide agutter drain shield of a uniform, one-piece construction having aversatile arrangement of integral fastening fingers that areconveniently adaptable for secureF ment on a variety of gutters.

A further object of this invention is to provide a gutter drain shieldof the above type that lends itself to economical fabrication and toconvenient handling, storing, and display.

Another object of this invention is to provide a gutter drain shieldrequiring no separate fasteners such as special mounting clips orattachment hinges.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent during the course ofthe following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame:

FIG. l is a plan view of a typical length of the gutter drain shield ofthis invention after fabrication thereof;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective View illustrating the drain shieldinstalled on a gutter of the type having an outwardly rolled lipconstituting its outer rim;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken approximately on the line 3---3` ofFIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view corresponding to that of FIG. 3 andillustrating the present drain shield mounted on a gutter of the typehaving an inwardly bent-over lip constituting its outer rim.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. l, the gutterdrain shield is shown in the form in which it is originally fabricated,and it preferably remains in this form until it is actually ready forinstallation and fastening on the gutter which it is to cover. In itsfabricated form, the drain shield consists of a suitably punched,elongated strip of semi-rigid metallic material such as copper, aluminumor other suitable materials known to those skilled in this art.

'Ihe strip consists of a lengthwise extending perforate central drainsection 11 flanked by lengthwise extending inner and outer marginaledges 12 and 13, respectively, that are preferably imperforate andintegrally connected to the drain section. The shield has a plurality oftransversely, inwardly extending attachment fingers 14 integrally hingedto the shield along the outer marginal edge thereof at regularly spacedpoints therealong, with these fingers being manually manipula-ble forfolding them either upwardly or downwardly from the plane of the shieldand into engagement with the outer rim of the gutter on which the shieldis applied. The outer marginal edge section 13 may also be formed atregularly spaced points therealong with integrally hinged, transversely,outwardly extending abutment lingers 15 that are manually manipulablefor bending them downwardly from the plane of the shield to providedepending positioning stops for abutting engagement with the inside edgeof the outer rim of the gutter.

In the disclosed form, the shield may be formed with 3,53,393 PatentedSept. 11, 1962 attachment fingers 16 integrally hinged to the shieldadjacent its inner marginal edge and extending transversely outwardly,with these fingers being manually manipulable to facilitate theirengagement around the structure on which the inner edge of the shield issupported. In addition, this inner edge of the shield may be providedwith integrally hinged, manually manipulable abutment lingers Animportant feature of this invention resides in the economy ofmanufacture of the present drain shield construction. The one-pieceshield is adapted to be formed from a continuous strip that may be woundon a suitable spool for storage prior to fabrication, with the stripbeing fabricated by continuously feeding it through a rolling die of thedesired die configuration to repeatedly punch out a desired perforationpattern defining consecutive sections of the strip. In the repeatingperforation pattern that is apparent in the disclosed arrangement ofFIG. 1, each section of the strip has one attachment finger and oneabutment finger along each of its marginal edges.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the fact that thestrip-like drain shield may be wound on a storage spool following itsfabrication for convenience in handling, shipping, and stocking of theitem. Appropriate lengths may then be cut from the storage spool inaccordance with the require-ments of each particular application. Thiseliminates waste. The versatility of the mounting finger arrangementpermits a single drain shield construction to serve the needs of avariety of gutter configurations and thus greatly reduces inventoryproblems. The relatively thin sheet metal strip from which the gutter isformed may be conveniently cut out F along its outer edge if thisbecomes necessary in fitting the shield to gutters that are supported bymetal straps running from the roof to the outer edge of the gutter.

To illustrate the versatility and utility of the integral, deformablemounting finger concept, the drain shield is shown mounted on twodifferent gutter arrangements in FIGS. 2 4.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, the 4drain shield is shown applied to a gutterconstruction 20 of the type that has an outwardly rolled-over lip 2.1constituting its outer support rim and an angular-ly, inwardly extendingfiange 22 forming an inner rim for attachment to the roof R. The gutteris shown with its flange 22 sandwiched between the overhanging edge of aroofing plank 23 and the roof shingles 24. In applying the drain shieldto this gutter arrangement, it is positioned over the gutter with theouter abutment fingers 15 deflected downward-ly and forming positioningstops that abut againstthe outer rim of the gutter to hold the shieldfrom sliding olf the gutter. 'Ilhe outer attachment finger 14 is bentupwardly and reversely for folding around the outer edge of the shieldto extend underneath 'and grip the `outer rim 21 of the gutter. It willbe apparent that the fingers 1'5 may be omitted as their function can befulfilled by bending alternate ones of the attachment fingers 14downwardly. The inner attachment finger 16 is folded downwardly andreversely to engage underneath the overhanging edge of the shingles 24.If desired, the inner margin of the shield may be pierced to accommodaterooting nails 25 for firmly securing the inner edge of the shield to theedge of the roof.

The drain shield is shown applied to another gutter 4construction 30 inFIG. 4 wherein the outer rim of the 'gutter has an inwardly bent-overflange 31 for supporting the shield, with the inner edge 32 beingsecured to lie alongside the vertical face of the wall W and underlyingthe overhanging edge of the roof R. With this arrangement, the outerattachment finger 14 is bent downwardly and reversely to engage underthe flange 31 of the gutter and the inner attachment finger 16 is bentdownwardly and reversely to grip against the roofing plank 33. It willbe noted that in the FIG. 4 arrangement the inner marginal edge of thedrain shield is Asandwiched between the roof plank 33 and the roofingshingles 34, though obviously, it could overlie Ithe shingles, as isshown in FIGS. 2 and 3. As is suggested in the FIG. 4 arrangement, theabutment finger need not be used in applications where the attachmentfinger 14 is bent downwardly to form an internal stop. With a gutterarrangement such as is shown in FIG. 4, it -is also convenient toposition the gutter drain shield so that its outer edge underlies thelip 31 with the yfingers 14 being bent upw-ardly and around the outerrim of the gutter.

There are numerous other gutter mounting arrangements differing`somewhat in the configuration of the outer rim of the gutter and themounting arrangement for the inner rim of the gutter. For example, theinner rim mounting arrangement shown in the gutter construction of FIG.4 might be employed with a gutter having an outer rim of the type shownin FIGS. 2 and 3 and vice versa. The present drain shield constructionis directly applicable to such arrangements, as should be apparent.While it is undoubtedly possible that a somewhat different specificarrangement of mounting fingers may offer advantages in other types ofgutter constructions, the present arrangement is preferred because ofits general versatility. However, the invention contemplates that otherintegral finger arrangements may be necessary in particularinstallations.

It should be noted that the central drain section is shown for purposesof disclosure as comprising a suitable number of punched-out holes;however, other forms of drain sections utilizing embossed domes or otherspecial drain hole configurations may obviously be employed in theone-piece drain shield of Ithis invention.

Thus, the objects of the invention have been accomplished in that agutter drain shield of sturdy, one-piece construction is provided with aversatile arrangement of integral fastening fingers to permit aneconomical, massproduction, continuous fabrication operation to beemployed. The final product is conveniently stored and finds `use on avariety of different gutter constructions for simplifying the inventoryand supply problem. The drain shield is also self-contained and requiresno separate mounting clips or attachment hinges.

It should be understood that the description of the preferred form ofthe invention is for the purpose of complying with section 112, title35, of the U.S. Code and that the claims should be construed as broadlyas prior art will permit.

I claim:

1. A substantially planar, one-piece gutter shield adapted to be formedfrom a continuous length of deformable, semi-rigid, metallic stripmaterial, said shield having a lengthwise extending perforate centraldrain section and lengthwise extending marginal edge sections flankingand integrally supporting the drain section, said shield havingtransversely, inwardly extending deformable attachment fingers in theplane of the shield and integrally connected to the shield adjacent theouter marginal edge thereof for manual manipulation from the plane ofthe shield.

2. The drain shield of claim 1 wherein said shield includes a pluralityof transversely, outwardly extending deformable attachment fingers inthe plane of the shield and integrally connected to the shield adjacentthe inner marginal edge thereof for manual manipulation from the planeof the shield.

3. The drain shield of claim 1 wherein said shield includes atransversely, outwardly extending deformable abutment finger integrallyhinged to the shield adjacent the outer marginal edge thereof for manualmanipulation from the plane of the shield.

4. A substantially planar one-piece gutter shield formed from acontinuous length of deformable semi-rigid metallic strip material, saidshield having a lengthwise extending perforate central drain section andlengthwise extending marginal edge sections flanking and integrallysupporting the drain section, said shield having deformable attachmentfingers extending transversely between said marginal edge sections andin the plane thereof, each finger being integrally connected to theshield adjacent a marginal edge thereof, and being manually manipulablefrom the plane of the shield to locatingly engage and rctain the shieldon a rain gutter.

5. A substantially planar, one-piece gutter drain shield adapted to beformed from a continuous length of deformable, semi-rigid, metallicstrip material, said shield having integrally connected lengthwisesuccessive main sections having identical perforation patterns, eachmain section having a lengthwise extending perforate central drainsection and imperforate lengthwise extending marginal edge sectionsflanking and integrally supporting the drain section, each main sectionof said shield having a deformable mounting finger coplanar therewithand extending transversely therein between said marginal edge sections,said finger having one end integrally connected to its main sectionadjacent its outer marginal edge section and having its remainder freefor manual manipulation from the plane of said main section and having asecond deformable mounting finger coplanafi therewith and extendingtransversely therein between its outer and inner marginal edges, saidsecond finger having one end integrally connected to said sectionadjacent its inner marginal edge and having its remainder free formanual manipulation from the plane of said section.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,674,210 Loucks June 19, 1928 2,271,081 Layton Ian. 27, 1942 2,336,713Bunker Dec. 14, 1943 2,816,623 Wong Dec. 17, 1957

